


Make Your Choice

by EtheralMoon



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Tim Drake, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Has a Bad Time, Tim Drake Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtheralMoon/pseuds/EtheralMoon
Summary: After a run in with a strange villain, Tim is forced to do something he never thought he's do: fix his crumbling relationship with his family. And while he'd like to avoid it altogether, he may not have a choice. Will Tim chase after his happy ending, or accept an unsavory ending to his story?
Relationships: Bart Allen & Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent & Cassie Sandsmark, But not officially - Relationship, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Look they should be together ok?, More along the lines of a crush they are blind to, lowkey Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, sort of?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73





	Make Your Choice

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my amazing epic friend sadbotnik for beta reading this fic! Hope you enjoy. :)))

It started off fine. Honestly. It wasn’t a big deal. Then I fell off a building. It’s not the first time. Your body tends to shut down after running off only coffee for more than a week at time. But really, it’s not that bad. He didn’t black out for too long, and Kon managed to catch him before I died, I mean perish the thought. Ha! Get it? Maybe not but whatever. Of course this led to Kon taking me to the Titans tower, where literally everyone was mother henning me. Everyone. To be fair, there were only four of them, as most of the older Titans had moved on to the Justice League, retired, or did their own thing., but still. It’s annoying.

“Tim. You could have died. Sleep now.” Tim rolled his eyes. They were acting like he was going to die just because of one mishap on patrol. Honestly. Even if Kon hadn’t caught him, he would have been able to grapple to safety in time. But nobody else seemed to share that opinion.

“Yeah, it’s an occupational hazard. I would have caught myself anyways. You know I have a grapple. You guys worry too much.” The rest of the Titans gave him their look™.

“Well, a lot more mishaps have been happening recently. Ever since we got back from Wintershire you have been working yourself to death. No more patrol for the next three days. You. Will. Sleep.” Cassie said, already moving to force him to bed.

“Excuse you. You can’t do this to me. In fact, I distinctly remember being team leader. That is, unless you overthrew me while I was in Gotham.”

“I don’t understand why you go back there.” Bart said.

“There's a distinct lack of appreciation for you. And I would know that.” Kon said, referencing how Superman used to avoid him at all costs, being a partial clone of him and Lex Luther. It was weird.

“It’s not that bad” Tim yelled back as he got dragged into his room by Cassie.

\-----

Tim simply laid in bed as he listened to the other Titans furiously whispering outside his door. 

“What do we do? It’s been three days and he doesn’t look better. If anything, he looks worse.” Bart whispered.

It wasn’t his fault that he heard. They whispered quite loud. He didn’t even need super hearing like Kon to hear what they were saying.

“Maybe we should take him to the hospital” Cassie suggested, also whispering. Yeah, no.

“You know Tim would literally die before going.” Kon responded.

“Besides, why is this even happening to him?” Bart asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe he picked up something in Wintershire?” Kon said, “The Storian knocked him out pretty good. Maybe my scans didn’t catch something, after all I’m not an actual doctor or anything.”

The Storian.

\------ Flashback -----

Rubble shifted as various members of the Titans attempted to climb out of the collapsed buildings. Luckily, nobody was hurt as they managed to evacuate the area, but it was still disheartening to see all of the property damage occurring.

“Please, you can’t defeat me. I’m not like all the others you have faced off against. There will be no defeat for me, as every story has an ending.”

“Yeah, yeah. We get it. You’re not like all the other girls” Tim grumbled. The Storian simply laughed in response, twirling his staff, the blue gem in the top of the staff glowing.

“Sure. Whatever you say, but how about we make this conversation a bit more  _ private _ ” the Storian said before slamming the base of the staff onto the ground, sending another shockwave out, shifting the rubble and causing the remains of the nearby building to collapse onto them. Tim winced. Hopefully they were ok, but he needed to deal with the Storian.

“I see so much potential in you little bird, but I also see so much holding you back. And I have pity for people like you, so I’ll give you a helping hand.”

“Yeah. Um, I think I’ll pass actually. I’d rather a psychotic murderer not meddle with my life. In fact, I’d rather read one of those stupid self help books. Actually I have an important question. What’s yours titled, because you are clearly the kind of pretentious asshole who has written at least one.” Tim replied as he threw several projectiles at the Storian. 

“I never asked what you wanted, but then again neither did anyone else. It must be hard with everyone abandoning you,” the Storian said as he deflected the projectiled with his staff, “I mean, I couldn’t stand it. But you've never known anything different, have you little robin?” Tim froze with these comments. How did he know?

“I mean, your immediate family left you for greener pastures. Or at least, that's what they always said right. Then a certain bat took you in, well, you took a certinan bat in didn’t you.” Tim flinched with that statement as all of his personal insecurities started rising to the surface. He tried to shove them down.

“You insult me, but you clearly aren’t any better. At least I don’t go out and kill people to deal with my problems, unlike a certain person in my immediate vicinity.”

“Please. I didn’t force them to die. People can always change their own fate.”

“What is that supposed to mean.” Tim asked. The Storian simply smiled before continuing.

“I did say I’d give you a helping hand and I’ll do just that.” The Storian said as his staff’s gem started to glow once more.”

“I give you the power of a choice, a chance to save to save yourself from a destructive fate. After all vigilantes seem to always go out with a  _ boom _ , am I right?”

“But anyways, your choice, your chance is trust. Find it within yourself to connect with those you feel there never was a connection with. You know what you need to do. I’ve always liked the choose your own ending books. Anyways, make the right choice!” As he finished his last statement Tim got thrown back as a wave of energy seemed to collide with him. Crashing into the last remains of a building's wall, his vision faded to black.

\---

Some of the victims family and friends mentioned that before they died, they had mentioned an encounter with some crazy man with a glowing staff dressed in ridiculous attire, speaking in riddles and vague references to their lives. Another big thing mentioned was the choice, the chance to save themselves.

It made sense. After all, The Storian did seem to have magic based powers. This confirmed victims of the Storian didn’t actually die by his hand. They died in other ways. A car crash. A stroke. A broken neck from falling down a staircase. None of them were directly by his hand. They were always given a choice and told to choose wisely.

  
Lost in thought, Tim didn’t comprehend that the Titans had gone quiet.

But what could Tim’s choice possibly be? He had trust issues with virtually everyone, so that didn’t narrow anyone down. For some reason, his mind was stuck on  _ “...vigilantes seem to always go out with a boom, am I right?” _

Then it clicked. Jason Todd.

Jason died in a boom. He died in an explosion in Ethiopia. It couldn’t be a coincidence, not with all the other references to Tim’s life.

Tim would have to face the Waynes.

\---- Kon ----

It had to be the Storian. They may not be medical professionals, but they did have access to all the right medical equipment and Tim still wasn’t getting better. Which is what led them to a house in Nevada. 

The Storians current hideout was surprisingly easy to find, with the Titans, minus Tim as he was forced to stay in bed at Titans tower, being able to get there quickly. Then again, Bart had super speed, and Cassie and Kon could fly pretty fast.

Making their way in, they found the Storian sitting in the living room casually drinking tea.

“Took you long enough. I was beginning to question if you would actually come.”

“What did you do to Robin” Kon growled out as he picked the Storian up and pushed them against the wall. His glass fell to the floor, shattering.

“Seriously,” the Storian sighed, “I just made that.”

“And you were asked a question” Cassie responded, a storm brewing in her eyes.

“I don’t know. I mean, you barge into my house-”

“You mean the house of one of your dead victims?” Bart said.

“Eh, minor details. Anyways. You spilled my tea.”

“And you've killed people. Get over yourself.” Cassie replied.

“Just tell us what you did to Robin.” Bart said.

“Hmmm. Well, I might as well give you a hint. The wrong person is asking the question. I might give you an answer if the person closest to him were to ask.”

“Look, just respond already, ok, and maybe your next house will be a bit bigger than a 5 by 5 block of concrete and steel.”

“Sorry, wrong again!” 

“I will literally drop an entire mountain on you if you don’t start talking.” Kon said, the anger inside him growing every second, yearning to be released.

“Geez. No need to be so rude about it. You could have asked nicely. Anyways. Nothing much, I just gave him a choice.”

“What choice?” Kon asked.

“To trust and try to reconnect, or at least air his grievances. Or he can choose to accept his fate.”

“You mean to reconnect with the bats? Or to die?”

“Sure.”

“How about you just undo that real quick.” 

“I can’t. I would say sorry, but I’m not.” Kon tightened his grip on the Storian’s shoulders, the Storian flinching as it grew tighter.

“Ouch. But I would suggest not forcing anything, as that would seal his fate. After all, we wouldn’t want you to take away his right to make a choice, would we.”

“So he has to do it of his own free will”

“Essentially.”

With that last word, Kon locked the Storian up and flew out, carrying him to the nearest prison with the capacity to keep him captive, trying to ignore the urge to still go through with his threat and actually drop a mountain on him.

\----

Tim finished editing his video before saving to a flash drive. It would be needed later. He had already called his lawyer and set up a revised version of his will, which wasn’t too hard to do as he already had an existing one. Being a vigilante is a risky life, and the risks seem to have finally caught up with him. The video finished uploading before he encrypted it. 

Shortly after he finished, Bart, Cassie, and Kon burst into his room.

“Tim. We talked to the Storian-” Cassie started.

“What? No! You guys could have been hurt! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Look that's not the point!”

“Well it is for me, and I don’t want you all to die!” Tim yelled.   
  


“Yeah, well we don’t want you to die either!” Kon yelled back. Seeing as it wasn’t going to get anywhere, TIm decided to figure out just how much the Storian told them.

“Fine. We can finish this later then. What did he tell you?”

“Well, um-” Bart started before Kon cut him off.

“You need to reconnect, or at least talk to the bats and tell them how much they have fucked up.”

Well fuck. Of course Tim couldn’t die in peace. Now his friends would push and push. He loved them, but he just couldn’t go through with this. There was a reason he was putting more and more distance between him and them, even if he always came when they asked for help.

“Yeah, no.”

“Tim, lo-” Cassie started.

“I said no.”

“Please, just give it a try. I can’t lose you too.” Cassie whispered, her face crestfallen. It wasn’t like Tim wanted to die. He knew how much he meant to Cassie, to Bart, and even to Kon, even if they didn’t always get along. Kon and Bart died at one point, which had devastated him. They were what he had always hoped for, but this was the one thing he wasn’t willing to do.

\---- Kon ----

“You shouldn’t be here,” Kon said to Gothams resident birds and bats as they arrived.

“Especially you two, after everything you two did” Cassie said, eyeing Damien and Jason. Jason had the decency to flinch at that statement, while Damien didn’t even look bothered.

“Hey, they have eve-” Dick started.

“So the people who have attempted to kill him and make his life miserable deserve to be  _ here _ , at Tim’s  _ funeral _ ! And don’t think we don’t know what you did to Tim.” Kon snarled, already upset.

Dicks face fell after that statement, with Bruce looking on in confusion.

“What Bruce? Did you now know about how Dick took being Robin from Tim. Did you not know how Dick and everyone else in your so-called ‘family’ ignored Tim when he tried to tell them that you weren’t actually dead? Did Dick neglect to mention that he threatened to have Tim put in Arkham when he refused to give up the search for you? Do you even know how much Tim gave up to actually find you  _ and _ bring you home alive?” Kon said, his anger reaching past its boiling point. Feeling as if he was about to spontaneously combust, he stormed off leaving Cassie to deal with them.

Collapsing onto a bench under a lonely willow in a lonesome corner of the cemetery, Kon let out a sigh before he started crying. It just wasn’t  _ fair _ . They got to walk in after everything was over, after Tim was dead and act like they hadn’t done anything wrong. To act like two of them hadn’t tried to actually kill Tim on  _ numerous _ occasions. To make it even worse, he knew for a fact that Tim hadn’t told them everything that happened with the batfam in the days before his death.

He may have not gotten along with Tim in the beginning. He definitely didn’t make Tim’s life any easier, but at least when all was said and done he still cared about Tim, which was more than he could say about most people. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before the other Titans came to get him, as the actual service was about to start. Barbara and Cassandra had showed up while he was gone.

He wasn’t sure if it was good or not, considering he just felt hollow the entire time. At one point he had walked up and talked about how Tim inspired him, but it was all blurry in his mind. The coffin had already been lowered into the ground and Tam walked up and pulled a flash drive out, inserting it into a laptop. The screen that was set up to be used earlier in the service flicked back on with Tims face with a play button over it. Tam clicked it before stepping back to the side.

_ “Hello everyone. If you are seeing this, then I am dead. I mean, Everyone has to die someday right? Besides, being a vigilante does have it’s occupational hazards.  _

_ Kon, Cassie, Bart, Gath I want you to know that I don’t blame you for anything. It’s not your fault. You guys are the best thing that's happened to me. _

_ Anyways, I don’t want this to be too long so I guess I’ll move on. I put everything most in the actual will, but I thought I would say a few things in here as well.  _

_ Barbara, Cassandra, I leave you two my photo albums from my time before and as Robin, specifically of Gothams nightlife. Plenty of blackmail material is in there, along with some things I just thought you would appreciate, so yeah use it well I guess. There are a few photos that I would like for you to give out, but they should already be labeled so you don’t have to worry about that. _

_ Cassie, Bart, Kon, I’m pretty much leaving you in charge of everything. I don’t know what to say really. You guys mean the world to me, and I… I love you guys, ok? Take care of yourselves. There is one surprise I never got to reveal to you all, as I just recently finished it. Tam will go over everything with you. _

_ Tam. Thanks a ton. While you were very annoying sometimes with all the paperwork and everything, you still made the job a lot easier. With everything else going on in my life, it was hard to actually devote as much time and energy to Wayne Enterprises, but you made sure it was still feasible.” _

Tim seemed to reach to turn off the recording before stopping.

_ “I know you guys probably won’t be here for this, but might as well add this just in case. _

_ Uh, Bruce, thanks for taking me in after everything that happened. I know I kinda forced my way in, and that it was more out of obligation more than anything else, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Sorry about that by the way. _

_ Dick. You could have just asked, or talked to me beforehand. Literally, that would have been the best option. Not asking is what hurt the most, but it’s fine now. You were right. Damien did need Robin more than I did. Anyways, thanks for being there sometimes I guess. _

_ Damien. Despite what you may believe, I was excited to meet you, even with your darker background. I always wanted a little brother, but I guess you never wanted me to be your brother I guess, with all the incidents with you trying to kill me and all.  _

_ Jason, I never tried to replace you. Just know that. For what it’s worth, you were always my Robin. In the beginning you were my favorite. Less flamboyant and filled with a passion to do some good for the city. I looked up to you more than anyone. You could say you were my hero. I guess the saying you should never meet your heroes is right after all. It never does end well, does it? _

_ Sorry for all the grief I’ve caused.” _

With that final note, the screen went black. 

Glancing back, Kon saw Jason and Damien staring at the screen in shock. Bruce looked like he was still trying to process what Tim had said, and Dick looked broken.

Turning back towards the Titans, they all got up and left, wanting to get away from the people who could have saved Tim if he had been willing to air his grievances while he was still alive.

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Tim am I right? Hope you liked it. Comments & Kudos would be appreciated, but only if you want to. :)


End file.
